Crazy Love Gamble-Style

Yesterday was so beautiful that we got to sit outside on the patio. I put a coat of fresh paint on miss Ava's toes and we relaxed & soaked in some sun. We are excited that at least for the next two days we are in for some good weather. Here are a few cute pictures of John & the littles. My 3 favorite people: Have a good day!

Thanks to her awesome mom & some seriously good Craiglist skills, Norah got a new toy... Ava was pretty excited, "Put her in there!! Put her in there!!" I had to wrap Norah in a blanket to make her not totally flop over, she isn't quite ready yet but I know she will be soon. She looked pretty fascinated by all the toys, lights & sounds the thing makes, it's basically the best exersaucer EVER, it sells for about $120 new and I got it for $30. I am confident that I could sell it for at least $50-$60 when I am done with it so that is pretty awesome. We had a good craigslist weekend, we also sold a dog kennel for $50 the same day I listed it and I originally bought that for $30 on CL several years ago. Just in case you are not super impressed with my shopping skills I will leave you with Ava's crazy outfit. She put it together all by herself, if you couldn't of guessed. Gotta love that. : )

We got invited to a tea party! And when I say "we" I mean Ava. But being as I am her chauffeur, that sort of means me too, and Norah and also Bayli this particular day. Ava got all dressed up, she even wore my pearls! Good thing we weren't officially invited, the rest of us did not dress up. Well Norah sort of did, but no dress or pearls for her. Tracy, Sammy's mom, had the table all decorated to the nines, tea party style. She went all out. Fancy cookies, wood dolls to color and decorate, lemonade "tea" and lots of yummy snacks. The table looked fabulous!! She even had jewelry & dress up things everywhere. Happiness : ) The girls all looked so fancy. This is one of the many ways to Ava's heart, she LOVES to look fancy. She makes me line up her dresses and she selects the perfect one. Then she puts it on and says "Want to see how fancy I spin???" We had a wonderful time at the party. Ava couldn't stop talking about it the whole way ho...

John's really honing in on those multitasking skills. 2 kids will do that for you, or you can hope. Not only does Norah like her swing, she LOVES having Ava entertain her while she is in it. This makes me smile: Daddy Technology bonding, the modern "playing". Getty up! The other day I left Norah on Ava's bed while I went to switch the laundry. It was all too quiet when I got back in the house. Here is what I found: Ava was supposed to be doing something or other that I had asked her to do but instead she crawled up on her bed and read Norah a story. I love that girl. Auntie This is why we don't trust her to babysit...yet: And finally, here are two picture of Ava, sleeping. We always sneak into her room at night to check on her and this is typically what we find: I love that she loves to read! I could easily get these same pictures of her dad if I wanted to, he often falls asleep exactly like this : )

Apparently the goal is to see how much water you an get OUT of the tub. That and revenge from Ava : ) And here is the funny conversation I had with Ava yesterday: Ava "Disneyland is the place where dreams come true. We should go there." Me "Yes Ava we should." Ava "When I get older will you be a grandma?" Me "Yes Ava, once you have kids, I will be a grandma." Ava "Can we take them to Disneyland?" Me "Sure." Ava "I don't really know what to name them. Maybe Daisy? And Wormy." Me "I don't think you should name your kid Wormy."

On Sunday we had a little Mother's Day Brunch at my house. The lovely parents-to-be came over. We got to help D'Auna celebrate her very first Mother's Day. Parties mean a whole lot of action for Ava. Literally. She got spun and spun and spun some more. Each time she stopped to gain her equilibrium she continued on with "Again! Again!" This is the main reason I refuse to spin her. It's a trap. I myself perfected this trap at a young age. Ava loves wearing fancy dresses. In the morning she had me line up 6 of them so she could choose the perfect one. This one was it, just what she needed to dance. Auntie Jessica Our lovely mother The ever skeptical Norah We had a great breakfast, lots of lovely gifts (even a Coach purse for me!) and a wonderful time visiting. After the brunch we sent the kids off with grandma and John & I stayed the night at the Edgefield. We had a great time. We enjoyed 2 happy hours, wandering around with cocktails, playing pool & dar...

When I was growing up there was one person that meant more to me then anyone else, that was my grandma Bonnie. She loved me (and her other grandchildren) fiercely. Her love was without condition. She took wonderful care of us, we were often sent to her house when we were sick. We longed to be around her, she simply was, the best. At one point, as an adult, I moved to Salem (where she lived) and got the opportunity to spend a few days a week with her. We would just hang out and talk, fold laundry together. There was never a person that felt more like home to me. We lost my grandma to pancreatic cancer several years back. It was such a devastating loss to lose someone so wonderful and close to me. The one thing that got me through all that pain was that I felt truly blessed to have had the time I did have with her. As I began to have children of my own my grandmothers death really started to hit me all over again. It was so sad to me to never get to have her to e...